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<p> A bench scale continuous settling unit was constructed and its operation compared to results of batch settling tests. The particulate solids used were polystyrene spheres with a mean diameter of 285 microns. The concentration profile within the slurry in both the batch and the continuous studies was observed using a light extinction technique.</p> <p> The results show that for the material used in this study, the solids flux limitation of the continuous settler could not be exceeded: the limiting condition in the operation was always the clarification capacity or upward velocity. The batch flux plot shows that this will be the case for any material which exhibits a flux plot that is essentially a single concave curve downwards.</p> / Thesis / Master of Engineering (MEngr)

INTRODUCTION: Due to medical advancements the rate at which individuals are surviving burns has increased; these improvements in survival rates have led to an increased need for research focused on social reintegration among individuals post-burn in order to improve their reintegration back into society and their psychosocial wellbeing (Attoe & Pounds-Cornish, 2015). DESCRIPTION: The aim of this project was to evaluate the social reintegration program in place at the Firefighter Burn Center at Regional One Health. The effectiveness of the program was evaluated through the use of three questionnaires that focused on quality of life, satisfaction with services, and importance in supports during the rehabilitation process. THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVE AND EVIDENCE: The theoretical perspectives utilized in the social reintegration program at this site are the Person-Environment-Occupation Model and the social cognitive theory. These theories interact to form the foundation of the social reintegration program and provide explanation for why the mechanisms of action of the reintegration program are effective. RESULTS: Data analysis was conducted and compared with published data from burn units throughout the country. Results revealed that participates at the site reported higher levels of satisfaction with services provided related to reintegration. It also revealed, that compared to published data from similar peers, the individuals at the site had clinically significant positive results for social reintegration and quality of life outcomes. CONCLUSION: The evaluation revealed the effectiveness of a social reintegration program. The project highlights the important characteristics of a program include: goal-setting, peer support, and being treated in an environment with other individuals with burns.

Prior research in dehumanization has elected to indirectly measure the extent to which individuals deny fundamental aspects of humanity to other groups. However, recent research suggests the study participants are more than willing to declare how human or unhuman like they feel various social groups are. An influential measure of assessing this blatant form of dehumanization is known as the Ascent of Human Scale (AOH). Despite much research providing evidence of blatant dehumanization towards out-groups, little research has specifically focused on testing assumptions pertaining to the scale’s administration or applying the scale to prior research settings. This thesis adds on the growing literature aimed at assessing methodological aspects of the AOH scale in addition to examining the relationship between blatant dehumanization and other psychological constructs. In study one, we build on prior work by manipulating the instructions participants typically see when giving ratings on the AOH. Results suggest that instructions do not appear to affect how participants rate social groups even when respondents are told the nature of the scale and what it is used for. In studies two and three we manipulate the extent to which a social group stands out amongst others on the AOH. Results reveal that group salience matters only when the in-group of participants is not present on the scale for rating. In studies four and five we examine the relationship between ascent dehumanization and social power, the ability to influence the behaviors of others. In study four we experimentally manipulate participants social power then have them rate various social groups on the AOH. In study five we measure respondents’ personal sense of power followed by social group ratings on the AOH. Results reveal that social power is not related to blatant dehumanization, challenging prior literature that has found a link between power and dehumanization in general. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / The work in this thesis adds to the literature on measuring blatant forms of dehumanization. Specifically, this thesis tests assumptions around the use of the Ascent of Human Scale (AOH), an influential measure in social psychology used to measure blatant dehumanization. In addition, we examine if applying the AOH to previous research that has found a link between dehumanization and other constructs reveals similar findings. In the first study, we manipulated the scale’s instructions presented to participants to examine if specific language impacts how respondents rate social groups on the AOH. Results found that instruction changes have no impact on how respondents rate social groups, even when told the scale is a measure of blatant dehumanization. In studies two and three we manipulate the extent to which a social group stands out amongst others on the AOH scale. Results indicate that when the in-group of study participants is included on the scale (study two) salience appears not to effect ratings. However, when the in-group of participants is not included on the scale (study three) salience does impact ratings such that the more a group stands out, the more they are dehumanized. Studies four and five examine the relationship between social power and ascent dehumanization. In study four we experimentally manipulate participants’ feelings of social power then allow them to rate various social groups on the AOH. In study five, respondents take a measure of personal feelings of power then provide AOH ratings for various social groups. Results from both studies reveal that social power does not impact ascent dehumanization. Taken together the work in this thesis addresses potential concerns regarding the use of the AOH and encourages the application of the scale to previous work to examine if blatant dehumanization is related to other constructs that dehumanization is argued to be central to.

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The Protist EST program (PEP) aims to explore the diversity of eukaryotic genomes, in a systematic and comprehensive way. A main element of the PEP initiative is to establish a database, the Protist EST Database (PEPdb), which is the centerpiece of the PEP collaboration. The major functions of the PEPdb are management of the data generated by PEP, analysis of these data, and to allow collected sequence information to be accessed via the Internet by PEP members or other users. In this project, a consistent and easy to use relational database was implemented. All information about PEP members, Publications, Libraries and ESTs can be stored in the database system. The operations are achieved by a friendly user interface. This database stores about 10000 records and is displayed on the web site "http://info.biology.mcmaster.ca/ling/estHome.html" for demonstration. An analysis of ESTs from the ciliated protozoan Tetrahymena thermophila was undertaken. A total of 3740 non-redundant gene assemblies and singletons from TIGR were analyzed. These sequences have been compared against the NCBI non-redundant protein and nucleotide databases using BLASTX and BLASTN to identify putative genes. Of 850 highly significant matches with an expect value cut-off of 10^-20 , 35.5% represent genes previously cloned from T. thermophila, and 64.5% had significant similarity to genes from other organisms deposited in the NCBI. There are 26 sequences (3.1%) that matched signal transduction proteins, including Rac, Ras, MAPK, ERK1, PKC, cAMP and 14-3-3 (a protein involved in signal transduction, exocytosis and cell cycle regulation). This result indicates that T. thermophila likely encodes the MAPK/ERK signaling pathway. About 53 sequences (6.2%) matched to cytoskeleton proteins which were divided into two groups. The first group matched genes coding for microtubules, especially to tubulin genes. The other group matched to microfilament genes including one actin, three actin-related and one profilin proteins. There were no sequences similar to intermediate filaments. Comparison of the EST counts from one gene provide absolute estimates of mRNA expression levels. The most abundant genes represented are enolase, SerH3 and Tubulin. Among 850 highly significant similarities, 196 were restricted to the ciliophora. GRL and SerH are ciliate-specific genes. There were 508 sequences that had highly significant matches (expect value < 10^-20) to human genes. Approximately 189 of them were present in humans but not found in the completely sequenced Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Based on Venn diagram analysis, T. thermophila contains abundant Eukaryotic specific proteins and many prokaryotic-like genes, and some metabolic enzymes in T. thermophila are also present in plants. These results support the fact that T. thermophila is an excellent unicellular model system for gene discovery and functional analysis. / Thesis / Master of Science (MS)

Aluminum is used as a structural member in marine applications because of its low weight. One challenge is to design against failure of aluminum structures in fire. A parametric study was performed to quantify the effects of parameters on the compression failure of aluminum plates during a fire. A thermo-structural apparatus was designed to perform compression tests on aluminum samples consisting of a compression load frame, a hydraulic system, and electric heaters. The effect of dimensional variation on failure behavior was examined. Aluminum 5083 and 6082 alloys were tested with three thicknesses, two lengths and two widths. Three heat fluxes and various buckling stresses were used. Micro Vicker's hardness values were measured before and after testing to quantify the effect of heating on the strength of the aluminum. In general, lower applied stress resulted in higher failure temperature and longer time to failure. Dimensional variations had a negligible effect on failure behavior. The 5083 alloy has a minimum stress level of 50% of the buckling stress at 10kW/m2 and 10% of the buckling stress at 20kW/m2, while the 6082 alloy has a minimum stress level of 75% of the buckling stress at 10kW/m2 and 25% of the buckling stress at 20kW/m2. The 6082 failed at higher temperatures and longer failure times than the 5083. The presence of insulation on the exposed surface decreased the temperature rise, resulting in longer failure times. Vicker's hardness decreased with heating in general. The results describe the effects of parameters of the failure of aluminum. / Master of Science

Gift-giving is a multimillion-dollar industry that affects almost everyone, and its economic importance is, "uncontested in terms of retail sales alone" (Sherry, 1983, p. 157). In romantic relationships, gift-giving plays an essential role in determining the overall satisfaction of the couple. With both positive and negative effects resulting from this exchange, it is curious why there is a desire to provide gifts in the first place. Are we lying when we say, "It1s the thought that counts," or has society really conditioned us to believe that gifts are a good proxy for feelings? This study investigates the reason behind gift-giving with regard to three distinct groups - intimate partners, family and friends - through the creation of a gift-giving scale. There is currently no validated measure for the effects of gift-giving. A factor analysis indicated a reliable 7-factor structure from the questionnaire: Gifts on Special Occasions, Jewelry, Use of 'Display of Gifts, Animals as Gifts, Gifts to/from a Significant Other, Money Earned, and Gifts for Pets. Each factor was tested using a 1-sample t-test to determine effects on gender in participant response. They were also analyzed with two one-way ANOVAs testing race and the participant's year-in-school for any effects. Six additional items of interest were analyzed and should be included in the scale. Gender differences were found for four of the seven factors, as well as effects for race and year-in-school. Six additional items from the Baruch Gift-Giving Scale were analyzed and shown to have significant gender differences in participant's beliefs on gift-giving. Through analysis of this research, we predict a better understanding of the importance that society and marketing place on gift-giving and the effect it has on relationships.

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Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Hospitality Management and Dietetics / Junehee Kwon / Service sabotage refers to employees' deliberate actions that negatively affect service, functional quality, employee-customer rapport, and company performance. Almost all frontline employees in the hospitality industry have witnessed service sabotage behaviors, and 85% admitted to engaging in such misbehaviors. Despite the prevalence and profound impact of service sabotage, it has been a challenge for researchers to measure the construct and understand specific and contextualized restaurant service sabotage behaviors. Thus, the purpose of this dissertation was to develop a reliable and valid scale to measure restaurant service sabotage. A mixed methods research design was applied. A qualitative study was conducted to explore prevalent restaurant service sabotage behaviors and to generate an item pool for the initial scale, followed by two quantitative studies with two different groups of non-managerial frontline employees in full-service restaurants to refine and validate the scale. Guided by critical incident technique, 243 critical incidents were derived from the in-depth interviews (n = 26). Of those, 28 explicit types of restaurant service sabotage behaviors were identified and further categorized into three behavioral groups: targeting customers, colleagues, and restaurants. In conjunction with scale items extracted from related measures, an initial instrument consisting of 39 items was developed and administered to an online restaurant employee panel by hiring a professional research firm. A total of 419 usable responses were collected and analyzed using principal axis factoring with a promax rotation. Results revealed a 13-item scale with three dominant factors. To validate the scale, 463 usable responses were gathered for data analyses. Results of the confirmatory factor analyses indicated a good model fit of the three-factor model, Chi-square/df=3.15, GFI=.96, CFI=.97, NFI=.95, and RMSEA=.07 while reducing the scale items from 13 to 10 and supporting the scale's dimensionality. Tests for validating construct validity were all fully supported. Cronbach’s alpha coefficients were all greater than .70, showing internal consistency of the scale. This psychometrically valid and conceptually sound scale may be applied in future restaurant service sabotage research and may stimulate additional studies to advance the theory and explore the criterion network. Implications, limitations, and direction for future research are discussed.